Chapter fourteen; Councils of war.

"Frodo!" Atùvinel rapped anxiously on the hobbit's door. When she received no answer, she pushed it open and walked in. The hobbit was sitting out on the balcony, a large red book in his lap. "Master Frodo!" Her voice startled him out of the trance he was writing in.

"Princess Atùvinel!" He stood. "What is the matter?"

"I will explain soon, can you come to the war chamber?"

"Certainly. I will come now."

"Thank you. I must find the others first as well."

"If you need some help, I can find Sam, Merry and Pippin."

"That would help me greatly." She left the room hurriedly, "We meet in the war chamber in an hour!"

He watched her go, wondering what could cause her to be so worried. She was running along the corridor and her dress was creased. He had never seen her so anxious, not even when the host rode off to war, then she had been composed, but now she was clearly frightened. He went to find his kinsmen.

When they arrived at the war chamber, they were startled to see so few there. Counting themselves there were only eleven present, Atùvinel and Arwen sat at the end of the table, with an empty seat beside them. Two older men were also seated, and in the livery of the King's council. A courier and two scribes completed the number.

Atùvinel looked up as they entered,

"Good. Merry, Pippin, can you come and study this map? I want your advice on where to wage this fight, near or away from Fangorn forest? Can we count on the Ents giving us shelter should we need it?"

"Treebeard might agree, but the other Ents… I am not sure about." Pippin said.

"But they will not do anything to us if we do not harm them or their trees until they have decided, and Treebeard may intervene for us."

The Princess sighed. "So we cannot count on security. I was afraid of that." She slid the map over to the other men. "Generals. You know far more about this warfare than I. Where would you propose we should take our stand? I would keep this away from Minas Tirith and the farmland as much as possible."

"We may not be able to save all farmland your highness. We should not risk surety of a victory over the price of crops."

"Indeed not." She agreed. "But I would like to spare as much as possible."

He nodded and resumed studying the map with his companion.

"Frodo, Sam. Thank you for joining us. I will now explain what the situation is."

"Before you begin daughter…" Arwen stood. "I want it to be clear that Atùvinel is in command here, not I. She will be leading this mission as I have little experience in war and it was my lord's orders that if anything like this should arise I should remain here, and my daughter would lead, with help from the generals of course. Prince Elfwine of Rohan will be the second in command." The queen sat, her meaning crystal clear.

Atùvinel flashed her mother a thankful smile, although she was unsure of her ability to lead this mission. But she did not show her anxiety and began to speak again.

"There is an army of Uruk-hai and Urûkans coming for Minas Tirith, at least a thousand strong."  She waited for the shocked whispers to die. "They are coming to capture our city and…"

"The Princess." A new voice broke in. Elfwine was standing in the doorway, leaning heavily on the frame.

"Elfwine!" Atùvinel started towards him, but the healers he had come with helped him into the room and into the seat on her left.

"Would you allow me to continue your highness?"

"Of course." She sat, and kept him down when he tried to rise. Shaking his head at her, he leant forward.

"This army is coming from Agaron and they are coming, firstly to carry Princess Atùvinel off to the East and secondly to throw Minas Tirith to the ground. What they intend to do to Atùvinel I do not know, but I am sure we can all guess."

He felt Atùvinel shudder at his side and took her hand gently to reassure her.

"We must prevent this at all costs. There is some devilry at work that may need Atùvinel's blood, and that of her brother, the Prince Eldarion to overthrow all the free lands."

The generals blanched, this heightened the tension in the room considerably.

"What?" Arwen started, "Atùvinel! I cannot allow you to ride to battle in that case. You will not just be targeted for protecting Minas Tirith, but you will be taken to Mordor and killed there, alone and far from home... I cannot allow that to happen."

"Mother, I will go." Atùvinel faced her mother, her face pale still. "If not then they will come for me here. I will not be the cause of more needless deaths."
"Lady Nenya, deaths are not needless if they are spent protecting you."

"They will be. I will ride with the host to face these beasts." Her last words were for the queen alone, "It may be a hard path, but I will walk it, for no one else can."

It was late that night when Atùvinel sat alone on the curtain wall, staring out across her home. The wind was brisk and cold as it whipped colour into her cheeks. But she didn't move, not even to shiver and so warm herself up. This was a place she went to get away from everything that surrounded her. As the princess of Minas Tirith, she always had to think of what others would think before she could act or speak, and it wore her down, constantly being on the alert for danger. Especially now, every small sound had her glancing at the source. She was unable to sleep, guilt ridden still for killing Mirdain and worrying if it was her own selfish need to leave the capital and her desire to be doing something worthwhile that made her want to lead the host to battle.

Even though she knew they were willing to die to protect her and their country, but why should they die for her?

"Atùvinel?"

Elfwine had watched Atùvinel throughout the meeting and after it, during the evening meal. She had only toyed with her food, and left with barely a word halfway through the meal. She had been a good friend of his for many years, and as their countries bordered each other and King Éomer and King Elessar were also friends, they had grown up together. Elfwine remembered riding together, and hunting with Atùvinel and Eldarion. But they were grown up now, and they had no time for playing.

He walked up to the Princess, sitting on the wall, her knees pulled tightly up against her chest and looking lost. Her face was cast into shadow as the moon slipped behind a cloud and Elfwine heard a muffled sob. When the moonlight hit her skin again, it sparkled upon her wet cheeks.

Elfwine was shocked, he had never seen her cry before, she had always been strong, determined to keep up with her twin and him, never wishing to demonstrate any weakness in front of them. He touched her shoulder gently, as he pulled himself up onto the wall next to her and sat, staring over the countryside.

"Atùvinel…" She lifted her head and didn't look at him as she smudged the tears away.

"Elfwine." She returned.

"You don't have to pretend."

"Pretend what?" Her voice was eerily blank.

"Atùvinel, I know you like my own sister, and you don't have to pretend to me." He crouched in front of her. "Don't lie to me, I can see right through it."

She kept her brave face up for another minute, until his frank and worried gaze cracked her shield. She buried her face in her hands,

"I'm afraid, Elfwine. Not for me, although I don't want to die, but for Minas Tirith, and Eldarion, and my father." Sobs shook her body violently. "I don't know what to do. I don't know what I should do. I'm so confused…"

Unsure of what to do, Elfwine pulled her into his embrace. She folded against him easily, after only token resistance. She huddled against him, suddenly more afraid than she had ever been in her life, and more alone.

Elfwine could understand some of what she was worried about.

"Atùvinel, you must do what you think is right for Minas Tirith. I will support you in whatever you choose, as will Queen Arwen. The council is there to help you do this. Master Frodo and Sam are here, and Master Merry and Master Pippin should return from the Entwood with Mithrandir soon." He spoke without thinking, for that was the only way he could reassure Atùvinel, She had always worried if she was doing the right thing. Her twin had conviction behind his every deed, but Atùvinel always wanted to help everybody and it hurt her when she failed and someone was hurt because of it. She felt personally responsible for every man and woman under her command.

"This is about Mirdain as well, isn't it?"

She stiffened at the name, and that was answer enough for him. Gently, he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I heard about that; the healers repeated every word that was spoken to me. Atùvinel, he begged you to kill him. He would have found away to kill himself if he had been in control of his body. If he wasn't then what ever possessed him would have murdered me in my bed, or worse, he would have killed you."

"But why did he have to die? He had done nothing wrong."

"He wanted to die. He'd fought the possession but then he needed you, as his Princess and Mistress to end his suffering. And you did that. It was the right thing to do."

The quiet assurance in his voice comforted Atùvinel somewhat.

"But, why should they die?"

Elfwine cut her next question off.

"I cannot tell you that. No one alive can." His voice rumbled in his chest as Atùvinel laid her head on his shirt. "You can't worry yourself like this."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Queen Arwen approaching. Atùvinel didn't see her mother, but she sat there, cradled in her friend's arms and cried.

Elfwine tried to calm her, and when he looked up again, the Elf Queen had gone. He was awed by the trust they put in him. Atùvinel never allowed herself to cry, and yet she trusted him enough to allow the emotional walls she had constructed to fall. And Arwen knew how he felt about her daughter, and she trusted him to take care of her.

He smiled, and gently kissed the top of the Princess' head.

"It will be all right." He whispered softly. "This, I promise you."

A slow update again, sorry about that, but it is quite long.

What did you think of it? No flames please!

HuntressDiana.